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The Victor Fernandez Gaston House has been described as “a later and more airy version of the bahay na bato”, or “house of stone”, which was the upper class Filipino house that developed in the later part of the Spanish colonial period. The bahay na bato was typically built of stone or with a stone (or sometimes brick) lower level supporting a wooden upper level. It combined architectural features of the indigenous Filipino bamboo house, such as elevated apartments and open ventilation, with foreign influences. The Victor Fernandez Gaston house has a lower level of concrete rather than stone, reflecting American influence. Like the typical bahay na bato, the upper level of the Gaston house is constructed of wood. But it is topped by a roof not of tiles but of galvanized iron – possibly again another American influence. |
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